Day 4 at Cannes Lions further explored the theme of storytelling but with a focus on digital, kicking off with a great session in the Grand Audi theatre featuring the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Creative Officer of VICE Media, Eddy Moretti and YouTube Nation's host, Jacob Soboroff in panel session. Key themes included how YouTube allows brands to discover content like they haven't before, how the new rules of engagement require brands to let their fans become storytellers with them and how the barriers to entry for creating content are lower than they've ever been. Moretti also warned of the dangers of 'platform fever' - when brands can become obsessed with algorithms rather than human connection.
Another highlight was the appearance of celebrity Jared Leto in a session with Benjamin Palmer of the Barbarian Group, talking about technology's role in distributing art and ideas in new ways across multiple platforms. Ever the performer, Jared won over a couple of squealing fans from Salvador and Dominican Republic when he invited them up on stage for a selfie in the first minute of the session. He also joked to a latecomer that they'd missed his first live naked appearance on stage, continuing to deliver plenty of good entertainment. Jokes aside, when he spoke of creativity in ads he said, 'when advertising is great, it's transcendent - it touches our culture' and when asked how he remains committed to his craft said, 'the bridge between reality and dreams is work'.
Following the morning sessions we made our way to the Young Lions zone to receive our brief for the marketing category, which we have 30 hours to complete. Thinking about Jared's comments one thing has now become very clear - that the bridge between the reality (of us sitting in this room buried in butchers paper, pens and post-its, while the rest of Cannes is outside drinking rose) and our dreams (of winning this comp), is plenty of sheer hard work.
Wish us luck. Game on!
Laura & Pippa
@_laurajenkins @PippaKK